http://goo.gl/XAq8nK
The high prevalence of COPD among long-stay psychiatric patients is a key reason why this group has a life expectancy 15-20 years less than healthy adults.
Researchers from Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and Whittington Health reviewed case notes and assessed the lung health of 41 long-stay psychiatric patients between the ages of 22 and 78.
The results showed that
- over 8 in 10 patients (83%) were smokers, in comparison to 19% of the general UK population
- 17% of patients were found to have COPD, in contrast to just 1.7% of the general population
- 7 % had undiagnosed COPD.
COPD is an umbrella term for a group of severe lung diseases including bronchitis and emphysema, and is mainly caused by smoking.
Evidence shows that:
- people with mental health disorders in England are more likely to smoke, and to smoke more heavily than the rest of the population
- 42% of cigarette consumption is attributed to people with mental health disorders.1
COPD is the second most common cause of emergency admission to hospital and the fifth largest cause of readmission to hospital, but remains largely undiagnosed in psychiatric patients already in hospital.